Fallen - Lower Dura

Fallen

District Type: Slum

Buildings: Temple (The Silver Flame), poor lodging (2), poor food (12), poor trades (40), poor services (20), poor residences (285)

First Impression: At first glance, this district looks like a ruin. Huge chunks of stone are scattered around the outer streets. Statues of the gods look down upon you, but many have shattered features or missing limbs. A few buildings and bridges have collapsed, in whole or in part, and most of the surviving buildings show some amount of scarring and damage.

Social Class: Lower class

Fallen is the worst district in a bad ward. A century ago, it was known as Godsgate, Sharn's first temple district. But as the city grew, the primary temples relocated to the higher wards, and the most important relics were taken to Sovereign Towers. Some of the temples remained in service, but most were converted to serve as housing for workers in the Cogs. For hundreds of years the district slowly decayed. The final blow came on 9 Olarune 918 YK. The Glass Tower broke apart as it fell, and while most of the floating citadel landed in the Dagger River, some of its spires struck the district of Godsgate, shattering buildings and killing hundreds.

The city council had no intention of pouring gold into Lower Dura, and people of the district were left to repair the damage as best as they could. Many left, but some of the people were determined to remain in their ancestral homes or maintain their family businesses. Others couldn't afford to go anywhere else. The folk of Lower Dura also talk about that the spirits of the restless dead that haunt the worst ruins of the district, and the mysterious and apparently mad "ravers" who commune with them. Within a year, the district became known as Fallen, and ever since then the citizens of Sharn have shunned it.

The extent of the devastation varies considerably. In much of the district the original buildings remain largely intact; any gaps in walls and ceilings have been blocked off with boards or chunks of stone. A few businesses can still be found in these areas -- taverns serving stew of questionable origin, crafters producing rough clothing and other necessities, merchants selling scavenged goods and materials. While the merchants of Fallen happily take any coins offered them, most are used to bartering with customers.

Where the spires of the falling Glass Tower crashed into the district, the buildings are shattered and broken, and segments of the Glass Tower jut from crushed temples and manors. The ravers inhabit these places, bloodthirsty feral folk who appeared after the disaster. Anyone who seeks the lost treasures of the Glass Tower must face the ravers -- and perhaps the restless spirits of the dead. The city council also uses Fallen as a makeshift asylum, throwing the insane into the district, where they either join with the ravers or quickly die.

The Ravers: They hide in the secret places, scavenging among the ruins where the Glass Tower and Fallen mingle in a jumble of glass and stone. Few ever see the ravers, but the evidence of their passing can be discerned amid the wreckage of old. Whether they were once citizens of the district or some strange breed released from the Depths by the shattering disaster, the ravers have been connected with the Day of Crystalfall and the troubled spirits said to haunt the mournful ruins. Most people never encounter the ravers, but those that do rarely survive to tell the tale.